The new ATA compensation survey: some interesting statistics

The current issue of the American Translators Association‘s Chronicle includes an article on the results of the most recent ATA compensation survey, which uses data gathered for the year 2006. The survey is interesting enough that I’m thinking of purchasing the full report ($45 for ATA members, $65 for nonmembers), but even the summary that appears in the Chronicle contains some really useful information.

When taking a look at the results, it’s important to remember that this represents a very compartmentalized snapshot of the translation profession; 979 out of 8,700 people who received the survey responded (ATA’s current membership is about 10,000) and the ATA is certainly not representative of all working translators, even within the U.S.

That being said, I found that some of the statistics corroborated my own theories about trends in the industry, while others really surprised me. For example, my own hunch about the level of education required to enter the translation industry turned out to be correct: only about 7% of the survey’s respondents have less than a Bachelor’s degree (so much for Parade magazine’s touting translation as a “no college degree required” profession!) and over half have a Master’s or higher.

I was surprised by how much the average full-time freelancer’s income has risen (to slightly over $60,000, a figure that I think is quite achievable by translators who have excellent language skills and are willing to market aggressively), but also by the fact that translation company owners earn an average of slightly over $67,000, which seemed low to me when offset by the added responsibility and constraints of running an agency.

The highest and lowest-paid language combinations were also interesting; English>Arabic and English>Danish topped the list, while English>Italian and English>Portuguese came in last when ranked by per-word rate, and Chinese>English and English>Chinese commanded the highest hourly rates.

In addition to the yearly average earnings that the compensation survey cites, I would be interested to know how those earnings break down in terms of the hours that the individual works each year. For example, when looking at the average earnings of full-time in house and freelance translators (approximately equal, with in-house translators earning a little below 60K and freelancers a little above 60K), my assumption is often that the in-house translator has to work more hours for essentially the same money. Admittedly, this is based on my own tendency to take at least four completely work-free weeks of vacation each year and at least two additional weeks where I might work a couple of hours a day. In addition, my average work week is probably closer to 30 hours rather than the 45 or 50 that most in-house employees are probably working.

However, it’s likely that many freelancers work that much, say 2,000 hours a year or more, which then makes the in-house and freelance earnings figures much more comparable. It’s an interesting topic, and I’m looking forward to learning more from the full report.

I bought the latest version of the survey after my copy disappeared after our pre-conference seminar. I found the German numbers to be slightly skewed. I had the impression that those who responded were perhaps the ones who demanded the higher prices. My per rate was several cents below the “average.” That said, I definitely meet the average earnings despite my “low” word rate. Feel free to take a look at my survey when you are here in May and then decide whether you want to buy it.

Yes, that’s a really good point! For example, what the current article quotes as the “lowest” average per word rate (for English into Italian and Portuguese) is 12 cents a word, which I think all of us who are established in the business would say is nowhere near the bottom of what people are willing to work for in any language pair. We’ll have to check out the new full report when I come to Kent for the seminar in May!

The other thing about the results, IIRC, is that the numbers of people who respond per language can vary widely. For example the average rate for English into Spanish might be based on 200 people’s responses, while English into Danish might be 2 people, which also skews the results. At any rate, thanks for commenting on it!

It is very difficult to draw an average in an industry where some people are willing to translate for $0.01 per word while other people are asking $0.15 for the same exact thing. At the end of the day, I guess the cheapest translators have to put in way more time than average-priced translators (serves them right for lowering their prices so much) but the level of income is similar. $60,000 seems about right as an average annual income.

Yes, I think you’re right on about this. As Jill commented, I think that most people who respond to the ATA compensation survey are high earners to start out with, and many people who charge very low rates are also not going to admit to it publicly. I think that one of the negatives of the ATA survey results (not the survey itself, since ATA cannot control who responds) is that they portray the low end of the translation market as being around 12 cents a word, which is of course not the reality. To me, it’s one thing when translators who live in countries with a low cost of living charge low rates and another when U.S.-based translators are willing to work for a few cents a word and, as you mentioned, have to work very, very long hours to reach that 60K.

Corinne, I recently had a potential client decline my rate per word because he had worked for a company previously that outsourced their translation needs for a few pennies per word. I really wanted this project, but I could not accept it. How would yo have responded to this person?

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